Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts opened a new property yesterday in the east coast Chinese city of Changzhou, a prominent business city with large engineering and technology industries.
Situated next to a small lake, the Shangri-La Hotel Changzhou has 350 rooms. Deluxe rooms measure 45 sqm, executive rooms are 53 sqm, and suites range from 64 to 225 sqm. Rooms have large work desks with multi-plug sockets, complimentary broadband and IDD telephones. They all have views over the city.
There is a large 4000-sqm health and fitness club with a fully equipped gym, indoor swimming pool, and spa, all open from 6am until 11pm.
The hotel has extensive meeting space with a 1,500 sqm pillar-free grand ballroom that features a nine-metre ceiling, intelligent lighting, and large LED screen. There are also two anterooms with windows looking out onto the lake.
There are three restaurants and two lounges: among these are the signature Shang Palace, which serves Huiyang and Cantonese cuisine and is headed by award-winning chef Jim Zhang, and Nishimura Japanese Restaurant, which dishes up sushi imported from Tokyo. Overlooking the lake are Café Long, serving an international buffet, and the Lobby Lounge, where teas, cocktails and light snacks can be enjoyed.
Changzhou is located on the express railway line between Shanghai and Nanjing. It is one of the country’s main advanced manufacturing bases with pillar industries including machinery, electronics and information, advanced materials and renewable energy.
Low operating costs, a strategic location, and developed infrastructure have attracted investors to the city. Foreign direct investment reached US$2.261 billion in 2009, an 11 per cent increase from a year earlier, according financial services firm KMPG (read KPMG's 2010 report about investing in Changzhou here).
The hotel is located within the city’s Wujin Hi-Tech Industrial Zone in the southern part of Changzhou. The 100 sq km zone, one of several large industrial zones in the city, is home to large numbers of domestic and international companies.
For more information, visit www.shangri-la.com/changzhou/shangrila
Nicholas Olczak
